Hot Spot: Emack & Bolio's

by Rosemary Vega

With hot summmer weather already taking over New York, what better way to cool down than with ice cream? Emack & Bolio's SoHo, known as ice cream for the connoisseur, has become my favorite go-to place for ice cream, smoothies, and coffee!
Emack &Bolio's opened in Boston in 1975. The store was named after two homeless men that the owners, who were lawyers, did pro bono work for. Each individual E&B store is slightly different, putting their own personal touch and creativity. The one thing they all have in common? Incredible, unique, ice cream. With flavors like Deep Purple Cow, Pumpkin, Mud Pie (Coffee ice cream with Oreo's and chocolate pieces!), the choices are endless.

HBO Explores The L.A. Speakeasy

by Frances Vega 

  HBO kicked off the first night of its Boardwalk Empire promotion on Tuesday with free drinks and goodies for customers.

Boardwalk Empire promotion (Frances Vega)

    From 7-9 P.M. every person who walked into the Varnish in downtown Los Angeles received a free drink, salt-water taffy, and the really lucky ones also got a flask. The promotional staff only had five flasks to give out so they were eyeing customers to see who was really enthusiastic about the experience. The flask itself was a plain tin flask with “Boardwalk Empire” engraved on the front.

Wicked on Broadway

by Rosemary Vega

For those unfamiliar with the story of Wicked, it answers the question "Are people born wicked?" Through the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West from Wizard of Oz, and her relationship with Galinda, Glinda as we know her now, we learn that in this case Elphaba was not born wicked. Their surprising friendship tells the backstory of their "rivalry" in Wizard of Oz.

Fashion's Night Out on Robertson blvd

  The second annual Fashion’s Night Out came back to Los Angeles on Friday bigger and better than the last.

Photo by Frances Vega

        Vogue editor Anna Wintour created Fashion’s Night Out with hopes of getting people to spend more money shopping during hard economic times. There were parties in many major retailers across the world. This year’s FNO was sponsored by the city of L.A. for the first time, making it the first official FNO in the county. That meant more retailers, bigger parties, celebrities, fashion designers, models, and all sorts of other goodies to entice people through their doors.

USC restaurant off to a good start

By Frances Vega
Photos by Frances Vega

          Most University of Southern California students are not aware of it yet, but the school just opened the only table-service restaurant on campus, Moreton Fig.

        It’s only been open for a week but it already has the potential to become a great place to eat. The restaurant itself looks like a five star restaurant. The bar has its own lounge area equip with couches, marble counters, and friendly bartenders. Despite its expensive look, the restaurant is not insanely overpriced. The priciest dish on the menu is a flat iron steak for $19.50; steak connoisseurs know this is a fairly decent price. I was in the mood to spend money so I went ahead and ordered it. The presentation was very impressive and the steak had a great flavor. Diners be warned though, the duck fat fries it came with were not my favorite. The steak is served with a side of six thickly cut French fries that are slowly fried in duck fat. They’re weren’t terrible, but they don’t taste like traditional fries either.

Orange County's dance gem

by Frances Vega

   picture taken from Defore website

Generally speaking, Orange County has a reputation for being dull compared to L.A., but dance enthusiasts could entertain themselves for days at the Jimmie Defore Dance Center in Irvine.

    This famous dance studio has been open for 32 years and has trained some of the best dancers in the entertainment industry. So You Think You Can runner up "Twitch" trained there while attending Chapman University and some of the choreographers were contestants on ABDC. The studio also offers a lot of variety so dancers from all kinds of backgrounds will have something to choose from (well unless your specialty is Russian folk dance, last time I checked they didn't offer that). 

      Students do not have to have a lot of experience either, choreographers will teach the basics in any dance style. Our personal favorite for beginners is Danny Hochman's hip hop class on Tuesday nights. He adjusts to your pace no matter what level and he is very friendly so you don't have to feel awkward if you don't know anyone. More advanced hip hop enthusiasts should take Tim Stevenson's class on Monday nights. His moves are very innovative and creative, they are also difficult...do not take this class if you're never danced before. Stevenson has choreographed for Jennifer Lopez, Jo Dee Messina, Chris Rock, Ty Hemdon, Destiny's Child, Stacie Oricco and many others.

    So, if you happen to be in the area and want to squeeze in some fun and fitness, take a trip over to Jimmie Defore.